Mandrake Linux for Windows

[Kevin Bullock <kbullock@ringworld.org>]

Yes, it exists. Catchy ain't it? A friend of mine bought it for about $20
to try out.

<RANT>
Except it fails.

The idea is good... the execution is a bit lacking. Initially it creates
two files on the selected Windows drive, for / and swap, formats them
appropriately, and boots up into the standard Mandrake installer
(post-partitioning). From there things get messy. I tried to set up a
network card (standard NetGear card using a tulip driver, worked fine in
other installs etc.) and it said it couldn't find the device anywhere on
the system. So I pop over a few virtual consoles, and all it tells me is
that insmod failed. Lovely. So I poke around the installer filesystem. I
don't get this at all -- stuff goes into wierd places. The debian
installer's initrd is a fairly standard linux tree. But after exploring
most of the tree, I couldn't find *any* modules for network cards -- I
found a total of about 8 modules in the entire tree.

So I skipped configuring the network and did it later with linuxconf
(which did work). Then I tried to configure X with Xconfigurator, and it
locked up (even though the X server was configured right). Again, I left
it alone until the first "real" boot, and it worked then. But I still
would prefer to have it run by default in the *highest* specified mode,
rather than the lowest (XF86Setup can do this).

So then I boot it up for real (which I have to do from DOS, doesn't go
from Windows. I expected this. Windows' issue, not Mandrake's). I
configure all the stuff that didn't work from the installer and tweak X to
make it work nice, then try to mount the Windows drive. This can't be done
(/dev/hda1 already mounted or /mnt/dos busy), apparently because this is
where the loopback fs's (/ and swap) are mounted from.
</RANT>

But it works at least marginally now, to get stuff done. And my friend can
try out Linux. I told him when he wants to try a real linux install to
come find me. :)

Pacem in Terris / Mir / Shanti / Salaam / Heiwa
Kevin R. Bullock